Accountability court once again adjourns assets case against Ishaq Dar

Ishaq Dar talks to Geo News in London. ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing the assets accumulation case against Senator Ishaq Dar was expected to indict the co-accused named in the supplementary reference against the former finance minister today. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed an interim reference against Dar in September last year on the Supreme Court's directives in the Panama Papers case. In a supplementary reference filed recently, NAB named National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmed, Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi as co-accused. All three are accused of aiding Dar in opening fictitious bank accounts and transferring money abroad. As the hearing went under way, the judge was forced to adjourn the proceedings once more owing to the absence of Ahmed's lawyer, Hashmat Habib. All three co-accused were present in court today. The hearing will now take place on April 2. The former finance minister, who has been absconding in the case since October last year, has already been indicted in the case. Additional accused in assets reference against Dar yet to be indicted The hearing has been adjourned till March 30 At the last hearing of the case on Wednesday, Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir ordered Mehmood and Rizvi to submit surety bonds worth Rs1 million each and adjourned the hearing till March 30 after Ahmed's counsel informed that he has been granted an exemption from appearance. The case Dar, a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income. NAB filed an interim reference against Dar in September last year in light of the Supreme Court's July 28, 2017, verdict in the Panama Papers case. The recently-filed supplementary reference is based on seven volumes and includes the account details of the accused persons, with transactions amounting to $4.06 million, according to NAB's Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq. The three accused in the supplementary reference are identified as directors of Dar's companies. Dar was recently re-elected to the Senate of Pakistan. He has been in London on medical grounds since October last year.